India head coach Gautam Gambhir has revealed that dropping opener Sanju Samson despite his red-hot form was the toughest decision of his coaching career, which also gave him a sleepless night.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up about the toughest decisions of his career: Dropping Sanju Samson for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi despite the wicketkeeper-batter being in tremendous form.
Vaibhav made a historic debut during the England T20 tour, but the decision came at a cost as Samson had to be dropped from India’s playing XI. Benching Samson drew criticism, as he had recently won the Player of the Tournament award for his exceptional campaign in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
‘It was the toughest decision’
Speaking to JioStar, Gambhir reflected on the decision to bench Samson for Vaibhav, saying that it had cost him a night’s sleep. He also emphasised that the decision was made with the team’s goal to win the series, and he had an honest conversation with the wicketkeeper-batter to explain the reasoning behind the move.
Gambhir further revealed that Samson had accepted the decision positively and in good spirit.
“In two years of my journey, that was the only night I could not sleep, and I told this to Sanju because I knew that it was probably the toughest decision in my coaching tenure in the T20 formatโto leave out someone who was Player of the Tournament after only three or four games. The reason was probably that Vaibhav was in that kind of form as well, and we had to win the series.
More from Firstcricket“Because ultimately you are there and when you are playing for India, or when you are coaching India, you want to win each and every series possible. I had a very, very honest conversation with him and I told him that that is one of the reasons why, because Vaibhav was in that kind of form, and we needed someone to score runs at the top, we needed that little bit of a platform at the top as well. And he was fine with it. And thatโs a conversation which me and Sanju had, and he took it in good spirits,” said Gambhir.
Vaibhav now has to wait for his chance
Following the Zimbabwe tour, where he was in brilliant form, Vaibhav was benched by the Indian team management in the Afghanistan T20s and the one-off match against Japan. Gambhir has addressed the situation, saying that it is indeed tough, but he has to wait for his moment to shine.
“I know, it is (tough). But then, I made him understand that I know youโre in good form, but sometimes with the players who have done well for a long time, you will have to wait for your opportunity,” the India head coach added.
Team India’s next T20 assignment will take place at the 2026 Asian Games semifinal on Monday, September 28, at Aichi Prefectural Korogi Sports Park. Their opponent is yet to be named.